Malcolm Robinson

Thanks Mr D. Ok second try, anyone know where this might be?

Ok, in words of one sylabll or less, how do you post a pic?

Anyone know hwere this "might" be? Has the dammed thing worked?

I know someone who tried to get one sorted, with garage facilities so kids could strip and rebuild cars/bikes, but it was fraught with "officialdome" difficulties. If I remember correctly Newcastle had a good one at Byker which this person wanted to copy but it depended on WDC giving some out of the way waste ground...........for Bedlington, enough said! I also know of at least one project to get a youth facility going for the kids in the town centre or thereabouts but again too many road blocks put up by WDC! And people wonder why I rant!

I know exactly what you mean stu! I posted without comment just to let people know when this was on and they can make their own mind up once they see and hear the proposals. I hope some people off this board get along and see the presentation and report back. Any roving reporters out there?

"Plans to enhance Bedlington's Market Place: An award-winning team has been drafted in to draw up plans to enhance Bedlington's 18th Century Market Place. Wansbeck Council has appointed Landscape Architects Ian White Associates (IWA) to develop outline proposals for a 21st Century make-over. IWA has a successful track record of enhancing market areas including Morpeth and Marygate at Berwick upon Tweed and has won national awards for its public realm and streetscape projects. Members of the public will be able to see for themselves the progress so far at a special event where Bob Ferguson of IWA will host a presentation giving anyone interested a chance to find out more about the plans. The presentation, which is being held as part of National Architecture Week, will take place on Wednesday June 20th, at the Bedlington Community Centre, Front Street starting at 7.30pm. Regeneration Portfolio Holder Councillor Alan Stewart, says: "The Council aspires to providing a high quality scheme and it is hoped that Bedlington will be added to the list of IWA award winning projects. We are very pleased to be working alongside IWA and I hope the public come along to the presentation to see for themselves the exciting changes that could be in store for what is a focal point in the town. Bedlington's tree-lined Front Street is one of the quaintest and most picturesque places in the area and enhancements to the Market Place can only help to regenerate the town even further."

I would put my money on a residentail development even though it does have planning for an old people's home! As for retail in the town this is worth a read...... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtm...MC-mcn_06062007

I agree Symptoms but any town worth its salt needs a viable commercail heart. The sad fact is that Bedlington has never modernised its shopping environment. That might have something to do with the bulk of Front Street being a conservation area and as such any structural changes have paper mountains to climb! We should have seen a retail area from Presto's car park, next to the Monkey, right up to the duel carriagway at Glebe Road with shops, offices and plenty of free parking. Front Street could then have carried on with its conservation area status and being an area for cafes, bars and eateries, all pedestrianised, (the Holy Grail of WDC!) The shops are too spread out (complete with restrictive parking) for todays customers who want to park and shop within minutes. Until someone grabs the nettle the future of retail in the town is only going one way!

As GGG said The COT have no such power. However if it is the one I know about the people involved wanted the COT to "organise it and run it". As it was going to sell new lines which several shops in the town already offered and due to the "overheads" paid by charity shops it was felt by the COT that this was unfair and unrealistic competition and as such they couldn't support it. A long way short of "not allowing" it! Once you see charity shops opening, and I am not dissing them they have their place and serve a valuable purpose, you know that the retail shops in the same area have problems. It means a "normal" retailer would not reopen a shop there for commercial reasons and it is these "commercail reasons" which any COT should be trying to change.

Listen to the people willing to give away the very very few rights we have coz that can't happen Pete, you must have dreamt it!!!!!!! What if one of those offences was an outstanding arrest you would have been in deep do do and all because of a mistake by the "state"! Never mind databases etc it is time for a proper constitution.

Looks like there is an impressive data base already, and it seems without consent! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jh...MC-new_28052007

"Councillors are largely 'figure heads' and the employees of the council do the actual 'work'... The word 'work' is may be a misleading term having been on the opposing side of a council employee with regards to planning etc...." Maybe your personal experiences have something to do with that view? I have "worked" with both "sides" of council and found the officers commited and earnest in their efforts. They are effectivly "overseen" by elected councillors who usually have no understanding of the work they have to do! "My gut feeling is if you dont like your councillor(s), stand yourself. It is a democracy." I don't think it really is, it is more a political party race. How many time have we heard that if you put a monkey in a particularly coloured suit he would get elected. That isn't democracy it is blind faith in a politicial party. "Instead of slagging off councillors, try taking making an active contribution to your society instead of complaining about it." I quite agree and I would have liked to seen councillors taking part in public debates where interested members of the community could discuss and debate issues. How else can anyone say they are representing your views, when was the last time a councillor asked what you thought of a certain issue? I also agree that most of the work is mundane but some of it impacts on the way the area developes socially and commercially and it would be nice to see some concensus for a change. One final point, anyone standing for council asks for your vote and because of that they have to justify themselves to any electorate. We now seem to be electing people becasue of their views and belifes instead of us putting them forward to represent ours!

DNA database, yes in a perfect world but in these days of PFI etc what if your DNA was "sold" to a private company, much the same as a lot of information is? ID cards, why? There is a lot of our forbears 6 feet under because they wanted to stop that! When considered altogether the whole CCTV, IDcards, DNA Databases etc smacks of control by a centralising government. We used to cherish our individuality now we seem hell bent on giving it away!

Got to agree with GGG. From personal experience there were 12 crimes commited in 2 months where I used to live but only one was given a crime number and that was for the insurance claim. So were there 12 crimes commited as everyone knew or only 1? Says something about the "fear of crime". Instead of stopping motorists for having a side light out I think the cops should be rounding up these feral chavs who roam our streets in the early hours, course that might involve officers having to get out of their cars!

Pete, With the next reorganisation of the local gov landscape Bedlington could become much more independent. I was shocked to read, on this board, that it might amalgamate with Blyth where did that come from? In the 70’s when WDC was formed why didn’t Bedders amalgamate with Cramlington a much more strategic fit? The real problem seems to be with the people we keep electing to represent us as they are much more concerned with toeing party lines than actually listening and doing something constructive and ambitious. Another reason to get rid of party references on ballot papers! Reintroducing the old Shire boundaries would make Bedlington a sizeable concern and with 30-40 thousand people a self sufficient one as no money is wasted on flights of fancy such as leisure centres, swimming pools, etc!!!!!!!!! It will be easy to have something like a parish council once WDC is disbanded but beware they have no real “power” as their remit is all about parks and bus shelters! Bedlington needs its own self determination in areas like social/commercial regeneration and with the right people at the helm it could fly.

Don't think I have the time, but judging by the support the idea got at the time it could have been a runner! It was just something I came up years ago with to demonstrate how Bedlington was not getting a fair share and could break out of the yoke of WDC and be self sufficient and better off.

Worrying thing to me is that they are up for good! Yes there is a good argument to have CCTV installed in certain areas but once they are up you (the public who they are supposed to be protecting) cannot get them taken down. If the need for them has been a fairly recent social development, say the last 10-15yrs, then might not that need disappear in the next 10 yrs or so, or do we all have a very pessimistic view of the way society will go? I was involved in the bid to get them into Bedlington and I asked for a clause in the bylaws where it had to be voted on, by elected councillors say, every few years to keep them up. Either that or some way we, the general public, could have them taken down when we felt there was no need for them. That idea was quashed by…………..the cops! The very people we give special powers to police our society in the way we want it to operate and for that reason they should have absolutely no input into the making of laws! The law is there for us to agree on and for them to police! It is a sad indictment of us to have the need for them, it is even sadder we have no control over them!

GGG, Wasn't it the case that the power station paid its rates in the old BDC and that was why it was in the black? It would certainly seem an opportune time to do something about giving a new one the right place name! It might have been "North Blyth" power station but I don't remember an invasion by the Blyth lot to take over the land there? While they are on they could always build some sort of import export facility because it is much easer, or could be, to get road and rail access there, then they could build their new 80 acre industrail estate at Cambois and leave the North Seaton resident alone! A bit of forward planning for when the Shire, hairy feet included, gets it independence!

I think one of the reasons that Ashington is getting more help now is because people feel guilty about the royal seeing to that the town got after the minors strike. All told it was pretty much left to rot...plus unlike Bedlington, it wasn't the most attractive of towns to begin with. ?????????????????????????? The problem was with the decision made years ago that Ashington HAD to be the commercial heart of WDC. Anyone with a bit of grey matter would have made Bedlington the heart as it lies about mid point of Morpeth, Ashington, Blyth and Cramlington. With that degree of bias and the political power base there both Newbiggin and Bedlignton were relegated to also rans'. Of course that decision could have been recinded but we never got councillors willing to tackle it, even when the majority of the ruling councillors came from Bedlingtonshire! Best thing to do now is to impose passport controls on Stakeford bridge and declare independence for the Shire! At the very least we have a council offices we own!

Just wondering, if Mr Brown is a Scottish MP and they, as Mr Salmon wants, break away from the Union will he be disbarred from sitting in Westminster? Seems strange to have a Scot, again, as PM when they have their own Parliment.

Thanks for the link ck, after looking through their pages it does seem they are saying the same sort of things as the other parties, maybe they thought they have to? I would have thought a more aggressive radicle manifesto might have produced better results as with only 3 councillors they are by and large impotent. Full marks for trying though! With all the changes to the local gov scene coming soon it may be the begginings of more small parties standing on local issues. Roll on the BIP, (not BNP Pete!) Bedlington Independence Party!

Getting back to topic, what was this Fresh party about?

I believe the "developer" for the flats was M.M. There was also another set put in to turn it into a kind of youth hostel. As already mentioned the actual owner was always an enigma with no one really sure? The Church was trying to claim it and do some sort of Social developement, eg youth centre with accomadation. I believe flats have been given the go ahead but the quality of the work and the materials used to date have upset the planners! Much the same as the old Ford garage!

I can understand the high wastage but what puzzels me is, how can that bread be fresh when it arrives in England considering that it had to be loaded onto vans sailed across the sea, traveled from the south of England, probably arived in Bedlington the day before or the night before the market. It would be impossible to make a French bagguete in France and drive it back to sell in Bedlington, they are almost unedible if you buy in the mornings and try to eat them that same evening! Every French boulangerie sells sacks of day old bread for 1 euro for chickens, ducks etc. And by the way I made a mistake with the price it should have been 40 cents, about 25p. So the only conculsion I can draw is that what was being sold was "speciality" foodstuffs which not only last longer but also command a high price. It is very noticable that the continentals, French Germans etc, buy up to a quality whereas the UK food industry is driven by price so that expensive sausage most poeple are complaining about would probably be a staple in a continental shopping trolly! Maybe Bedlington was the wrong venue for a scheme such as this but at least people got a choice and a chance to sample different wares? The French markets I have been to are loaded with shellfish and fish off the boats that morning, vegetables pulled that morning, and fruit picked that day as well so there is no comparsion with the multi nationals where most of the foodstuffs have been irradiated and travelled half way around the world! Until people realise you really do get what you pay for Beldington will continue with a car boot sale instead of a local farmers market!